Consultants: $281K to each victim's family

John Pirro

Published 10:34 pm, Thursday, July 11, 2013

NEWTOWN -- The advisers to the committee charged with distributing money to victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings recommended Thursday that the families of the 26 children and staff members who were killed should each receive $281,000.

The two school staffers who were wounded during the Dec. 14 massacre would divide $150,000. Families of the dozen children who "through the grace of God or whatever escaped" would each receive $20,000, if the three-member committee accepts the recommendations of mediator Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw the distribution of money to victims of several other tragedies, including 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and last year's theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.

But most of the approximately 50 people who attended the public hearing at Edmond Town Hall had another question on their minds: Who decided on the 70-30 split of the nearly $11.7 million raised in the wake of the second worst-school shooting in U.S. history, and why weren't the victims' families getting all the money?

To those queries, Judge Alan Nevas, chairman of the committee, could only say they were asking the wrong people.

"I understand that this is an issue in the community," Nevas said. "We were given $7.7 million ... To talk to us about how that decision was reached is fruitless."

That explanation fell short of satisfying the four members of the public who spoke, each of whom drew applause from the audience as they advocated additional money for those injured or killed.

"The intent was to give the money to the victims," said Caryn Kaufman, spokesman for a coalition of families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and six other mass shootings. "We're here to say all the money should go to the victims ... This process is re-victimizing the victims."

The $11.7 million was collected by the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation under the auspices of the United Way, and several months ago, the foundation decided that $7.7 million would go directly to the families, with the balance being held in reserve for long-term community needs, including future mental health care.

It will be up to others to decide how those funds will be spent, distribution committee members Nevas, Dr. John Woodall and Joseph Smialowski said.

"These are not questions for us," Nevas said.

"Solomon himself could not distribute the money in a fashion that would satisfy everybody -- It cannot be done," said Feinberg, who along with his associate, Camille Biros, recommended how much each of the victims or their families would get. The committee, however, is not bound by the recommendations.

Feinberg said all the families would receive the money tax free, but all of the recipients would have to file claim forms by Aug. 2, because the distribution committee would not be the appropriate body to decide which family member would receive money in the event of a dispute.

"We need the claim form to make sure the families are on the same page. You either work it out or you go to court to get an order," Feinberg said.

The families were briefed on the process and the proposed distributions in private meetings before the public hearing, Nevas said.

The committee will begin working on the final distribution plan Friday morning, and expects to have it completed by Monday. The committee's goal is to begin making the payments to victims by Aug. 16.